Glass hinge assemblies are usually of the kind shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,079,798 issued Jan. 14, 1992. Such hinge assemblies are placed on the edges of glass doors and are oriented in a vertical plane, to support the weight of the glass doors. A disadvantage of this type of hinge assembly is that it can exert undue stress on the glass, causing it to crack, and in addition it can be difficult to mount the fixed part of the hinge unless there is a sufficient structural support backing up the fixed part of the hinge. In practice, the fixed part of the hinge is usually attached through tile, marble or artificial stone, and unless there is a structural support behind this material, the fixed part of the hinge will not be adequately secured. In addition, the large hinges located along the height of the door are unsightly.
To deal with this kind of problem, in some cases hinges are placed at the bottom and top of a shower door or the like, with their pivot pins extending vertically toward the top and bottom edges of the door, as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,035,957 issued Jul. 19, 1977. With the arrangement shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,035,957, the bottom hinge bears the weight of the door as a compressive force. Thus, the door is not hung on its edge, thereby reducing the likelihood that the door will crack. In addition, there is usually a structural support available below the bottom fixed hinge portion, facilitating installation of the hinges. The hinges being at the top and bottom of the door, are somewhat out of the way visually and are usually less unsightly.
A disadvantage of the kind of hinge shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,035,957 is that it has not in the past been possible to provide in a simple way any self closing or detent features for such hinges. In some cases such hinges have been built with friction drums, but these simply make the door stiffer to open and close and do not provide any self closing forces. Therefore, shower doors which use top and bottom hinges have usually employed gravity forces for self closing. However this makes installation of the door more difficult, since it must be oriented at the correct angle, and in addition a stopper is needed on the door, usually in the form of a magnet or latch. This increases the cost.